Patterns of Health-Related Gender Inequalities—A Cluster Analysis of 45 Countries

Abstract

The paper explores gender inequalities between 45 countries across 10 health indicators among adolescents and whether those differences in health correlate with gender inequality in general. Methods: Data from 71,942 students aged 15 years from 45 countries who participated in the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey were analyzed. For this purpose, 10 indicators were selected, representing a broad spectrum of health outcomes. The gender differences in the countries were first presented using odds ratios. Countries with similar risk profiles were grouped together using cluster analyses. For each of the 10 indicators, the correlation with the Gender Inequality Index was examined. Results: The cluster analysis reveals systematic gender inequalities, as the countries can be divided into seven distinct groups with similar gender inequality patterns. For eight of the 10 health indicators, there is a negative correlation with the Gender Inequality Index: the greater the gender equality in a country, the higher the odds that girls feel fat, have low support from families, have low life satisfaction, have multiple health complaints, smoke, drink alcohol, feel school pressure, and are overweight compared with boys. Four indicators show a divergence: the higher the gender equality in a country in general, the larger the differences between boys and girls regarding life satisfaction, school pressure, multiple health complaints, and feeling fat. Conclusions: Countries that are geographically and historically linked are similar in terms of the health risks for boys and girls. The results challenge the assumption that greater gender equality is always associated with greater health equality.

Assessment of the Dependence of GHG Emissions on the Support and Taxes in the EU Countries

“…Clustering is a common exploratory tool for pattern recognition in large samples in various fields of science, such as electro-electronics [35], medicine [36], cleaner-production research [37], management [38], and ecology [39]. According to Kaufmann and Rousseeuw [40], the choice of a clustering algorithm depends both on the type of data available and on the particular purpose to which they are put.…”

New Findings From the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Survey: Social Media, Social Determinants, and Mental Health

“…For instance, greater gender equality in a country is associated with higher odds that girls feel fat, feel school pressure, have multiple health complaints, and have low family support and life satisfaction compared with boys. Higher gender equality in a country is also associated with larger differences between boys and girls in multiple health complaints, life satisfaction, and school pressure [5]. These findings around gender equality need further mining to determine the etiology of these associations.…”

“…Dierckens et al [4] show that both national wealth and income inequality are associated with socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent mental health and well-being. Heinz et al [5] delve into adolescent gender inequalities and health, challenging the assumption that gender equality is necessarily associated with greater health equality. For instance, greater gender equality in a country is associated with higher odds that girls feel fat, feel school pressure, have multiple health complaints, and have low family support and life satisfaction compared with boys.…”

Understanding the Health and Well-Being of Early Adolescents Throughout the World: Findings From the 2017–2018 Survey of Health Behavior in School-Aged Children

“…Dierckens et al, using data from 17 countries with three consecutive waves of HBSC data (2010e 2018), present some confusingly divergent findings, with higher levels of national income inequality being associated with more mental health symptoms [3]. Heinz et al, using 2018 HBSC data across 45 countries, attempt to clarify the role of gender inequality in adolescent health [4]. Much to our surprise, gender equality is not necessarily associated with greater health equality.…”

“…Much to our surprise, gender equality is not necessarily associated with greater health equality. For example, the greater gender equality in a country, the higher the odds that girls feel fat, report less support from families, feel school pressure, have multiple health complaints, smoke, drink alcohol, and have low life satisfaction compared with boys [4]. These findings around gender equality need further investigative work to determine the mechanism of these associations.…”